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03/17/2004: "Draining Michigan"

The Detroit Free Press ran an editorial Sunday about the vast whooshing sound of young people leaving Michigan. They state that "[t]oo many people in what should be their most productive years -- ages 15-44 -- are bailing out on the Great Lakes State...." They also share that "[t]here is a belief in some quarters that those leaving Michigan will be back soon enough, when they have sown their oats or want to raise children or need to care for elderly parents." Funny, I read this on the train; I was visiting my mom in my childhood home returning to my current home of Chicago.
So does The Freep offer as a solution?

There's no magic-bullet answer or much of a state-level solution to the national and global trends that have contributed to this trend. Even a true economic resurgence won't restore the manufacturing jobs lost to Michigan.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm and state legislators are trying to keep the corral closed -- and roll out the welcome mat -- with tax incentives. But those tend to be onetime offers. State leaders do not yet seem to have convinced the world that Michigan is a center of high technology -- despite the abundance of it in automotive products and manufacturing -- and life sciences. Granholm is on a right track with her "cool cities" initiative, but Michigan still does not enjoy an outside reputation as a particularly appealing place to live. There are major selling opportunities coming, though, and the state must be ready to work them to the max.

I don't know much about Governor Granholm's "cool cities" initiative, just that people who say they are cool usually aren't.

Immigration can be a plus, too. There's no reason for the state not to encourage it as a continued source of growth, and to lobby for national immigration policies that make it easier for foreigners to study, work and perhaps make a new life here.

And if that creates an even more diverse Michigan, then state, regional, local and business leaders have to declare that an asset and stop the balkanization that creates a negative atmosphere.

I agree, immigration is good. But having "the state ... lobby for national immigration policies" bugs me. That's too many government bureaucrats jawing at each other. Good thing there is a better way.

The census report offers an opening for some big-picture planning for the Michigan of the 21st Century. What a shame if the people who ought to be such a big part of that future can't be persuaded to stick around and help make it happen.

I agree with so much of what they have to say, but they have to close with that. I don't want to ask what Michigan can do for me. I don't want to ask what I can do for Michigan. I want to live in a Michigan where I am free to be me, not a Michigan where I have to fight for some bit part in someone else's big picture production.